The awards show was hosted by “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey. He kicked off the show with a little help from his fellow Hollywood stars and joked that he wasn’t anywhere near the first choice to host the show. That’s when Stephen Colbert joined Spacey as the groundhog from the current production of “Groundhog Day,” to give him a little advice.

“Just read the prompter,” Colbert sang. “Hey, even Steve Harvey would be okay. You’re no dope. Never give up hope. Never let yourself be defeated.”

Next came Whoopi Goldberg: “If you want to learn, you got to go where some of the greatest hosts of all times have gotten their start: Carson, Letterman. You gotta go to the Rock.”

Then it was none other than Billy Crystal who joked that he had been asked to host but declined. Billy Crystal gave advice and said, “Kevin, if all else fails, put on a dress.”

Fans might not realize that Spacey has a theater background: He won a Tony Award in 1991 for his performance in “Lost in Yonkers.”

The one to watch this year was “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” based on Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” which led the way with 12 Tony nominations. Singer Josh Groban made his Broadway debut in the musical.

One of the most coveted awards of the evening, Best Featured Actress in a play, went to Cynthia Nixon for her role as Regina in “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes.” When taking the stage she got political during her speech.

“Sixty years ago, [Hellman] wrote, ‘There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it and other people who just stand around and watch them do it,'” Nixon said. “My love, gratitude and undying respect go out to all the people in 2017 who are refusing to just stand and watch them do it.”